Time to go on the offensive...enough is enough.

[oldhen2345]

I`ve never heard of anyone effectively dealing with a rat infestation problem using only traps. Rats can and will reproduce faster than you can trap and or shoot them. Poison is necessary because rats are very intelligent and will learn to avoid most traps. Good luck in your battle against the vermin.

You could make a rat box. Just make a U shape with 2x4.s standing on end. Maybe a foot long and wide. Put a top on it with about a 6 inch overhang on the open area. Put the poison inside and put the open area against a fence. I put a cinderblock on top of mine so it won't move. Rats will crawl into the opening and eat the poison. chickens, dogs, birds will be safe from the poison. I also put a block of Just One Bite inside the lawn mower shed. By the end of winter, all poison is gone- as are the rats.

 

[Rothy_058]

Thanks for all your comments. The 'take' rate on the bait has dwindled again almost to a standstill. We have tightened up on garden security and no food or water, even, is left out at night anymore. I was looking at some woven wire mesh to proof the floor of the runs against predators - see:

https://www.inoxia.co.uk/products/mesh/sheets/2-mesh

I reckon with that protecting the runs nothing bigger that a bumblebee would be getting in there. It's not cheap - a 1.2 x 2.1 metre roll is gonna cot us £130 but it's the dogs bollocks in 304 grade stainless steel it will last for years. That would be to protect the Eglu coop...it would be extra to fortify the other runs but I figure worth it to stop this problem developing again.

I haven't enjoyed resorting to using poison. This was a bad infestation...and an infestation is exactly what it was. In many ways our own naivety was responsible for what happened and our 'live and let live' policy that we adopted when we first saw we had furry visitors...

In hindsight we should have acted swiftly when we first saw the rats and maybe that way we could have controlled the problem with the use of just traps and general garden management rather than having to resort to an all-out campaign of mass murder.

It's a learning curve and we have learned this lesson the hard way....never again. I have listened to all your comments on prevention being better solution than extermination and do agree.

Hopefully the steps I'm about to take will ensure I never have to do this again.

 

[cmom]

If people are careless of where and how they put the poison baits out that chickens and other critters can get to it so be it. I use the poison in the rat bait boxes and have not had any issues except less rats and mice so far. I place my bait boxes where my birds and other critters can't get to them and I have not found dead rats or chickens or anything else dead laying around.

 

[Double Yolked]

Anyone else got any good tips for the revolting rat and it’s retinue?? Thank you

I might have a few suggestions.
First look up Shawn Woods, Mousetrap Monday on YouTube. Some of his videos really do work and he doesn't use poisons on his videos.
Second, try putting down a quart of regular sweet Coca-Cola (or any Carbonated Beverage) NOT diet in a big bowl and see if you get some good results. Rats can't burp and some people have reported being able to kill them using bowls of Coca-cola. Pretty much harmless to the other types of wildlife.
I used the Coke in a bowl trick a couple of years ago in my runs. A night time bowl of coca-cola for a week or so and I started seeing quite a few dead rats down by the edge of the pasture and a lot of interested turkey vultures.

 

[Al Gerhart]

There have been some good responses so far but everyone misses the simplest solution, the one thing that rats and mice must have. Food. You clean up the sanitation by locking away the bulk feed and spend the $100 needed for a decent treadle feeder that has a counterweight and spring loaded door. Once the food is secure the rats will self deport, starve out, or they will be much easier to trap or poison although neither will solve the problem long term.

Again, very simple. No food. No rats. No problem. That is cheaper than trying to rat proof an entire coop.

 

[Double Yolked]

There have been some good responses so far but everyone misses the simplest solution, the one thing that rats and mice must have. Food. You clean up the sanitation by locking away the bulk feed and spend the $100 needed for a decent treadle feeder that has a counterweight and spring loaded door. Once the food is secure the rats will self deport, starve out, or they will be much easier to trap or poison although neither will solve the problem long term.

Again, very simple. No food. No rats. No problem. That is cheaper than trying to rat proof an entire coop.

The problem I have found with trying to remove the food source? Getting the chickens to cooperate. Even with the treadle feeder I get spilled grain. Chickens be messy!

 

[Folly's place]

So true!
And small bantams can't use that treadle feeder either.
Mary

 

[Al Gerhart]

The problem I have found with trying to remove the food source? Getting the chickens to cooperate. Even with the treadle feeder I get spilled grain. Chickens be messy!

Show me the feeder! If it is one of mine, you didn't read the instructions and order the feeder lip extension. Ninety five percent of the time there ought not be a grain of feed raked out of a treadle feeder if you have the right feeder and that other 5% is solved with a lip extender.

One key thing about the design of a treadle feeder is to keep the amount of feed in the feed tray low and out of sight behind the inward swinging door so that the birds don't try to rake through the feed in search of treats. And don't feed mixed feed or you are asking for trouble from a large number of birds that are smart enough to dig out feed to get to the goodies.

If you have a Grandpa feeder, one of the aluminum Chinese feeders, or one of the feed o matic types, well yeah, they all have a problem with chickens flinging feed. It was designed into the feeders for some reason, probably made by a person that never raised chickens.

 

[Al Gerhart]

Mary is right, treadle feeders are for full size birds. Anything under a couple of pounds is gonna have problems and either has to learn to eat from the side or the feeder has to be adjusted to accommodate them. Below a couple of pounds, treadle feeders can be dangerous so don't use them with tiny birds unless you are willing to take a small risk. Then again, there was a thread that I read on this very forum abut a UK flock owner who lost her entire flock thanks to stress caused by rats. Chickens already carry a ton of diseases that are kept in check by their immune system and the least bit of stress like moving them to a new location can trigger a disease. Pick your poison, not doing anything has risks too.

 

[Kusanar]

Mary is right, treadle feeders are for full size birds. Anything under a couple of pounds is gonna have problems and either has to learn to eat from the side or the feeder has to be adjusted to accommodate them. Below a couple of pounds, treadle feeders can be dangerous so don't use them with tiny birds unless you are willing to take a small risk. Then again, there was a thread that I read on this very forum abut a UK flock owner who lost her entire flock thanks to stress caused by rats. Chickens already carry a ton of diseases that are kept in check by their immune system and the least bit of stress like moving them to a new location can trigger a disease. Pick your poison, not doing anything has risks too.

Could you add weights to the bar on the feeder if you only have bantams? Just enough to make the bird weight the same as a normal bird?